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Mig welding aluminum withOUT a spool gun?

I want to weld some aluminum, probably nothing thicker than 1/8th for now. I have a Miller 175 mig machine, but the spool gun is over $600 (while the spool guns for the new 180 is less than half that ).

I would buy a new tig machine before I'd pay $600 for a spool gun.

The purpose of the spool gun is simply to get the wire closer, because aluminum wire is too soft to push through the normal mig lead, correct?

If so, has anyone even tried with a normal mig lead? It seems like if you were very careful to keep the lead as strait as possible at all times it might feed. If any one has tried what was the result and what thickness of aluminum wire were you using?

Re: Mig welding aluminum withOUT a spool gun?

Looking at the specs, you probably will be able to do 1/8", possibly 3/16" alum.

I looked at the Spoolmate 100 and the Spoolmate 3035, The pin connections to the machine look to be the same for the gun trigger and the feed power but the part numbers for the motors are different. I don't know if they are using a different voltage to run the motors or if it's just that they have superceded one part with another. You might PM Steve (7A749) or may be one of the other guys here who works on Miller stuff and see if they know what the actual differences in the guns are. It may have more to do with the machine hookup than the spoolgun. I know I had to install an adapter kit from Miller in my MM185 in order to run the 3035 spoolgun on my machine. I forget now exactly what was involved in doing so.

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No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!

Re: Mig welding aluminum withOUT a spool gun?

I have done without any issues on my Hobart Handler 140. i just changed my spool over to AL...then changed my gas over to 100% Ar.....and away I went! No birdnesting, just ugly aluminum welds! nothing a grinder couldn't make look decent though.

my gun lead on my HH140 is short though.....10 feet or maybe even 8 feet long.

Re: Mig welding aluminum withOUT a spool gun?

Originally Posted by BurningMetal

I have done without any issues on my Hobart Handler 140. i just changed my spool over to AL...then changed my gas over to 100% Ar.....and away I went! No birdnesting, just ugly aluminum welds! nothing a grinder couldn't make look decent though.

my gun lead on my HH140 is short though.....10 feet or maybe even 8 feet long.

Thanks, by reading this i will try it myself, almost everyone says to buy a spool-gun. They are 1/2 price of the welder.

Re: Mig welding aluminum withOUT a spool gun?

Thanks, by reading this i will try it myself, almost everyone says to buy a spool-gun. They are 1/2 price of the welder.

Have fun. I'd suggest you talk to your doc about some tranq's and probably some blood pressure meds.

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No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!

Re: Mig welding aluminum withOUT a spool gun?

i checked into fitting out my mm175 with a spool gun and decided that the money and bs would not be worth it and the fact that taking anger meds and since i'm already on blood pressure meds the mm252@30A spool gun were better spent. i have to say that since i got the 252 @ 30A i haven't welded 5' of aluminum beads with it. i use the tig or the O/A torch.

Re: Mig welding aluminum withOUT a spool gun?

I am still a total noob even with MIG welding steel, but hope to get into aluminium welding eventually.

Has anyone here tried to BUILD a home made Frankenstein spool gun out of an old salvaged wire feed motor ? The prices that spool guns go for is absolutely obscene.

I am, sure with a few parts from a deceased MIG welder, and a bit of imagination, plus a couple of boxes of crazy pills medication, it should not be all that difficult to bodge up something that can imitate a real spool gun ?

Re: Mig welding aluminum withOUT a spool gun?

I am still a total noob even with MIG welding steel, but hope to get into aluminium welding eventually.

Has anyone here tried to BUILD a home made Frankenstein spool gun out of an old salvaged wire feed motor ? The prices that spool guns go for is absolutely obscene.

I am, sure with a few parts from a deceased MIG welder, and a bit of imagination, plus a couple of boxes of crazy pills medication, it should not be all that difficult to bodge up something that can imitate a real spool gun ?

I wouldn't put it past Duanne to be able to make something like this work, that or someone who is an electrical engineer...

You need to understand the down sides of a spoolgun 1st however. Even as "compact" as a spoolgun is, it's still way bulkier and more awkward than a standard mig gun. A huge disadvantage with alum where you need to weld at almost 2x the speed as steel the same thickness. I dumped my spoolgun for many alum projects simply because with small objects it wasn't practical to maneuver the spoolgun around fast enough to get good results. It was great on long straight things, but items where I was constantly changing the gun angle relative to the work it was a PITA.

Now you want to build something bigger and bulkier to try and accomplish the same thing. The entire feed drive, trigger and nozzle assembly has to be built into a small easy to handle well balanced package. And do it with probably scrap parts on the cheap. Quite a challenge.

Also keep in mind alum will not tolerate feed irregularities. It's why a long whip on a standard mig doesn't work well. As soon as there is a hiccup in the feed, the alum will melt back into the tip. That leaves most "cheap" mig's with their erratic feeders out of the equation.

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No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!

Re: Mig welding aluminum withOUT a spool gun?

Hey guys,
I see this query quite a bit & there is a really simple & inexpensive solution. I have a 160A MIG unit that is setup strictly for the alum. production runs I do(<.140"). This unit has a 6' MIG cable assembly that came originally equipped with it. I use 5356 since the production runs are not heat-affect applications(>150deg.). The wire feeds easily with no issues such as birdnesting. If you feel that a spoolgun setup is too much to invest in for just a few alum. jobs once-in-a-while, then consider getting another complete MIG cable assembly for your unit. These can generally be found on E-Bay quite reasonable.

If you are not experienced enough with modifications or have the tools to shorten a MIG cable assem., take it to someone who is. It would be much easier to do the machine side of the assem. rather than taking the gun all apart & attempting to get the internals in the exact configuration for proper function. Then you will have a nice, short cable assem. that is easily changed over so you can do aluminum. Just some mental fodder to digest...... Here's a pic.....

Denny

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Re: Mig welding aluminum withOUT a spool gun?

For the price and free shipping I would order one of these and figure out how to make it work on mine, doesn't look like it would be too hard. http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Hot-Max-...item3a6cd1d32f
Otherwise the Spoolmate 100 sells for $200, and it looks the same as my 3035, might have a back end that you have to modify to make work on yours though. With the addition of a SGA 100c you can make a spool gun work on just about anything too.

Re: Mig welding aluminum withOUT a spool gun?

I tried it and it just wouldn't work for me. I shortened the old GA gun from my MM200 and installed the Teflon liner. Both 4043 and 5356 fed like a dream.

I ruined 10 tips in 20 minutes. The wire would always burn back and melt the tip, regardless of stick out length, amps or Ar flow. I was thinking no pre flow may have had something to do with it. My Spoolmatic worked fine.

I'm a novice, so YMMV. Let us know it it works for you and how you did it. I will try to post my posting on it with pics from 2011.